Nuggets center Nikola Jokic finished third in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting, the league announced on Monday.

It put a cap on a stellar season for Jokic, who gained national attention for his play as the season progressed. He received seven second place votes and 38 third-place votes.

Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns was the unanimous winner of the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award, sweeping all 130 first-place votes. He is the fifth unanimous winner of the award, and the Timberwolves are the first team in 42 years to have back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners.

Limoges guard Taurean Green, left, runs to score during the third PRO A Playoff final basketball match between Limoges and Strasbourg on June 5, 2014 in Limoges, France. (Thierry Zoccolan, AFP via Getty Images)

AEK Athens head coach Jure Zdovc almost brought new meaning to reaching his players.

During my 30 years in basketball and the titles I have won, I have been taught that what happens at the bench of the team, stays at the bench of the team. The TV image exists but it tells half of the truth. The other half was and will remain within all of us who were at the bench. AEK is a very big club and we have the obligation to serve it and do our best for it to win. The only way for this to happen is by putting the club above the self, by fighting for it and by giving everything for the win. When I came in the team I knew where I was coming. I was coming in a team that the the club is above all. AEK is above everybody and I will serve this logic. Players who think only themselves, who don’t respect the money they receive, who don’t care about the team, and who don’t know where they have come, they will find me opposed to them.

I showed this at SEF, I showed it at Tripoli and I will show it anytime that somebody puts himself above the team and tries to hurt the team. Any player who doesn’t mind losing by 30 points and instead of trying to wash out the shame is indifferent, provocative and disrespectful to the team will have a problem with me. Any player who believes that he came to AEK to do vacation and make money is wrong and I will not hesitate to hurt my image so that everybody who comes in this team understands that AEK is above all.

The general of a team needs to step to the front and fight to impose the correct mentality that is demanded for the team to succeed, even if this can expose him in a negative way. This is what happened in this case. I want to apologise to the fans of AEK and to the basketball people because of the move of my arm. Of course, I know that we should be role models for everybody and represent our club in the best possible way even when provoked.

The first step to long-term success is mentality. Building mentality and foundations is a long-term tough procedure but we will succeed in it and we ll make the fans of the team proud to see players that will be fighting in every possession in order to bring the club where it deserves.

According to eurobasket.com, Green is averaging 4.5 points and 2.0 assists in 13 games for AFK Athens.

Originally a 2007 second-round draft pick by Portland, Green was traded to the Nuggets in 2008. He played nine games in Denver, averaging 1.1 points and 0.7 rebounds.

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan argues a call during the second half of a game against the Spurs in April. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

No matter what else happens in these NBA playoffs, this executive, team, coach, and player are already winners.

Executive, Neil Olshey, General Manager, Portland: There is no general manager who was questioned more about what he did with his team last summer than Olshey. He lost last summer’s biggest star — LaMarcus Aldridge — to San Antonio during free agency. He traded sharp-shooting forward Nicolas Batum to Charlotte, but bolstered the bench with spark-plug shooting guard Gerald Henderson in return. He allowed fan favorite Wes Matthews to walk during free agency. He signed Al-Farouq Aminu to a $30 million contract, to raised eyebrows. He traded for high-energy big Mason Plumlee to replace Robin Lopez.

He placed the team in point guard Damian Lillard’s hands and built around him, reshaping the team from one that operated inside-out, to one that spreads the court and operates as a shooting, slashing unit led by two high-scoring guards. That plan was worked beautifully. Portland was not projected to make the playoffs at all, but not only did it make the playoffs, it did so as the fifth seed and is in the second round of the playoffs giving Golden State a hard-fought series. Read more…

San Antonio Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge has averaged 39.5 points in the first two games of the Western Conference semifinals.(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Oklahoma City guard Dion Waiters is never scared to say anything on his mind.

So, when asked about the Thunder’s defensive strategy against San Antonio star LaMarcus Aldridge in the first two games, which has been to not double-team him, he bottom-lined the reason why for everyone.

“One man can’t beat you,” said Waiters to reporters. “So we’re fine with that. If they want to continue to get out of their offense and throw the ball down there to him, we’re fine with that. One guy can’t beat us, no matter how much he scores.”

And yet Aldridge almost did on Monday, scoring 41 points in the Spurs one-point loss to Oklahoma City. He was the only Spurs player to score more than 15 points. Read more…

Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry (7) reacts after making a buzzer beater three point basket to tie the game against the Miami Heat during the second half in Game 1 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series, Tuesday, May 3, 2016 in Toronto. (Frank Gunn, The Canadian Press via AP)

Raptors guard Kyle Lowry has been struggling with his shooting from the floor all playoffs — a paltry 30.6 percent through eight games — but he came up big when Toronto needed him most.

Down three to Miami with seconds left in the fourth quarter on Tuesday, Lowry put up a prayer and nailed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from half-court to force overtime. Read more…

Nuggets guard played well down the stretch of the season in Denver. He’s an unrestricted free agent this summer. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Forgive D.J. Augustin if he doesn’t exactly jump for joy each time he hears a team say its interested in retaining his services. He’s been there before. Many times before.

“This is my fourth summer being a free agent,” Augustin told The Post. “You never know what can happen. I’ve been promised things in the past, and it didn’t come true. I’ve had my hopes up in the past and it things didn’t happen.”

The point guard is an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the Nuggets have said they’d like to talk to him about a possible return. He played well after coming to the team in a deal that sent Randy Foye to Oklahoma City at the trade deadline. Read more…

Nuggets head coach Michael Malone, right, talks with Jameer Nelson during a break in the Nuggets game against Indiana Pacers on Jan. 30. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler)

Jameer Nelson is back in Philadelphia, spending time with his family and doing more than a little bit of thinking about his future with the Nuggets.

“We’ll see how things go,” he said. “We all have decisions to make.”

Nelson’s preference is to return to the Nuggets next season. Not only just return, but get back to playing a big role on the court. He’s got two years left on the three-year, $13.5 million deal he signed with the team last summer. But he played a total of just seven minutes in the Nuggets’ last 24 games of the season as D.J. Augustin took over the primary reserve point guard role. Nelson doesn’t want a repeat of that next season. Read more…

An artist’s view of what the Nuggets uniform might look like if ads were allowed over the whole jersey instead of just a small patch. (Illustration via ESPN)

Recently, the NBA announced it would start a three-year pilot program in which small ads will be allowed on jerseys. Which, is what it is.

ESPN went a step further, enlisting the help of artist Robb Harskamp to craft uniforms for each of the NBA’s teams with the sponsor incorporated into it. The Nuggets, of course, was Denver-based restaurant Chipotle. Smart. And the jersey design isn’t too bad. Here is the link to all of the redesigned uniforms.

The Nuggets already had small ads for UC Health on their practice jerseys, which, honestly didn’t interrupt the look of anything at all. Ads on game day uniforms league-wide will begin in the 2017-18 season, which is the first season Nike takes over making NBA uniforms from Adidas.

Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com

Steve Hess is one of a number of Nuggets staffers that received new, enhanced titles on Friday. He is now Director of Performance/Assistant Coach and Head Strength and Conditioning Coach (Photo by John Leyba/The Denver Post)

The Nuggets announced a number of staff adjustments on Friday, starting with a promotion of longtime scout Herb Livsey to Lead Scout.

Livsey has been with the Nuggets since the 2008-09 season, coming to the team from the Atlanta Hawks. He also worked for the Portland Trailblazers.

“You’d be hard-pressed to find someone more dedicated and knowledgeable about the game of basketball,” said Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly in a statement. “Herb is one of the most well respected scouts in all of basketball and our organization is very fortunate to continue to have him as a resource.” Read more…

Tim Connelly’s three seasons as Nuggets general manager have been anything but uneventful. There have already been two coaches, sizeable roster turnover and emotions that have been in a constant tug-of-war.

But now, he feels as good about the direction of his team as he has at any point in his tenure. Connelly’s talked about making a run at the playoffs next season. This is the remainder of a wide-ranging interview with The Denver Post about the state of the Nuggets, which includes his thoughts on the season, head coach Michael Malone, and rookies Emmanuel Mudiay and Nikola Jokic.

On if the season was a success: Given our record, a successful season is a postseason appearance. But I think relative to our expectation level with so many young guys, it’s been a huge success for our coaching staff instilling a culture and a the kind of approach we can build upon. I think we’ve seen young players grow immensely. I doesn’t feel good that we’re doing this interview at the end of our season, but when we reflect on it we see more good than bad.

All of the kudos go to Mo and the staff. We had to find out about a bunch of young players this year and that’s not easy in this league. And we found out about them by trial and error, their ability to play through mistakes. So, as we reflect back upon it, it’s a year of immense growth and growth that will serve us well going into this offseason. Read more…

Denver Nuggets forward Will Barton (5) holds his head after getting called for goaltending during the fourth quarter at the Pepsi Center on January 21, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. The Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Denver Nuggets 102-101. (Photo by Brent Lewis, The Denver Post)

The NBA announced Thursday that it broke its all-time regular-season attendance record for the second straight year.

The average NBA regular-season game had an attendance of 17,864 or 94 percent capacity in 2015-16. Can you guess which team brought up the rear? It’s the Denver Nuggets.

For the third straight season, the Nuggets’ attendance dipped from the previous year. In 2015-16, Denver was last in the league with just 577,898 fans coming to the Pepsi Center — an average of 14,095 per game. It was just 73.6 percent of capacity. Only Philadelphia and Minnesota had a lower percentage at 73.2.

Denver hasn’t had numbers that bad since the late ’90s when the team was still in McNichols Arena.

Stephen Curry (30) of the Golden State Warriors dribbles the ball against Lance Stephenson (1) of the Memphis Grizzlies in the second half during the game at ORACLE Arena on April 13, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. (Thearon W. Henderson, Getty Images)

But something else he did was join the highly exclusive 50-40-90 club — think like the 40-40 club in baseball. It’s for players who made enough shots to qualify for the end-of-the-season leaderboard with at least a 50 percent field-goal percentage, 40 percent 3-point FG percentage and 90 percent free-throw percentage.

Curry is just the seventh player to perform the feat, which has been completed a total of 11 times. Larry Bird was the first to do it in the 1986-87 season. Steve Nash has done it four times — and nearly reached it four other seasons.

But a few of Curry’s stats stand out on this list. His 45.4 percent shooting from beyond the arc is third, but considering he drained 402 3-pointers (Nash had 179 for second), it’s pretty amazing. He also edged out Bird’s scoring average — 30.1 to 29.9 — and has the most points (2,375) among anyone on the list.

Kobe Bryant, the Black Mamba, has retired after 20 years in the NBA. While the past couple years haven’t been the greatest of the five-time champion’s career, Bryant put on a show for the ages in his final outing in the NBA against Utah. Bryant shot 22 of 50 from the field for 60 points. He made six 3-pointers and 10 free throws.

Bryant scored 23 points in the fourth quarter and flashed signs of his old self throughout the last stretch. He helped the Lakers rally from a 15-point deficit, hitting a late 3-pointer with 59 seconds left to bring the Lakers’ score to 95 and just a point behind the Jazz. On the ensuing Laker possession Bryant nailed a long jumper to put the Lakers ahead by 1. Bryant scored his 59th and 60th points by hitting two free throws on the following possession. On his final play, Bryant threw the ball down the court to a wide open Jordan Clarkson for an easy dunk to ice the game. Watch the full video above.

Last night was a historic night for the NBA. Kobe Bryant played his final game in his storied 20-year career with the Lakers.

But another Californian team wasn’t going to be outdone.

The Golden State Warriors won their 73rd game at home against Memphis, breaking the ’95-96 Bulls’ previous record of 72-10 for most wins in a single season. The Warriors’ star guard Stephen Curry broke another record that night, becoming the first player in history to make 400 3-pointers in a single season. Check out No. 400 above.

With tiebreakers sorted out, the Nuggets now know exactly where their picks will be in this year’s draft, except for the the lottery selection, which will be swapped with the Knicks if it is more advantageous.

The Nuggets were in a three-way tie, record-wise, with Milwaukee and Sacramento. The tiebreaker resulted in the Kings getting the No. 8 slot, the Nuggets at No. 9 and the Bucks at No. 10. Percentage-wise, there is almost no difference in the three. They all carry varying degrees of a six percent chance to land a top three pick and a 1.9 or 1.8 percent chance to land the top pick.

The Knicks were locked into the No. 7 slot, which carries a 15 percent chance to land top three and a 4.3 percent chance to land the No. 1 overall pick.

The Nuggets also have two second round picks, No. 53 and No. 56 overall.

NUGGETS FIRST ROUND PICKS

1. Their own, which can be swapped with the Knicks: This is the last piece of the 2011 Carmelo Anthony trade. The Knicks have the seventh-worst record in the NBA, which carries a 15 percent chance of landing a top three pick. The Nuggets have a 6 percent chance of landing a top-three pick. So, in all, the Nuggets have two chances to land a top-three spot. They’ll take the better of the two picks after the draft lottery. Read more…

Nuggets forward Darrell Arthur, beginning the last season of his contract, would love to make Denver his permanent home. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)

Darrell Arthur’s immediate career wish is simple: He wants to stay with the Nuggets.

Getting there, however, could be more complicated.

Because, while the veteran forward does have a player option for next season that he could pick up and be paid roughly $2.9 million, Arthur will, at least initially, be in search of more security than the one-year plus option deal he received last summer. To do get that he’d have to opt out by the late June deadline and then negotiate a multi-year deal with the Nuggets. Read more…

Nuggets forward JaKarr Sampson goes up for a dunk against Oklahoma City on April 5. (Photo By John Leyba/The Denver Post)

As far as JaKarr Sampson is concerned, Friday night was just the beginning of the metamorphosis of his game.

Sampson scored 14 points in the third quarter on an array of shots, the most electrifying of which were dunks, on his way to a season-high 16 points in the Nuggets’ win over San Antonio.

Here’s what you didn’t know: The Nuggets have won every game in which Sampson has scored in double figures — three in all. And, while you might call that coincidence, consider this from Nuggets coach Michael Malone on Friday night.

“JaKarr Sampson carried us in that third quarter, scored 14 points, did it in a lot of different ways. I was just really thrilled with Jakarr’s overall effort. He was tremendous.” Read more…

The Nuggets say there was huge value. No matter who was on the court for the Spurs.

“We are the only team in the NBA to beat Golden State and San Antonio (in the same season), which is kind of amazing,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I don’t care if they rested most of their starters, we still beat them.”

A bit later in the press conference… “I give our guys credit; they did a great job of getting on track tonight. The last three games we got away from who we are and to play this way against San Antonio couldn’t have come at a better time.” Read more…

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.